


Surgeon and Patient

by fireflysglow_archivist



Category: Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-06
Updated: 2006-02-06
Packaged: 2019-04-29 06:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14466861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflysglow_archivist/pseuds/fireflysglow_archivist
Summary: Simon decides its time he asks Inara a few questions.





	Surgeon and Patient

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Set after the film. Part of a series of conversations I'm putting together.

  
Author's notes: Set after the film. Part of a series of conversations I'm putting together.  


* * *

Surgeon and Patient

## Surgeon and Patient

She didn't who she was expecting when the knock came at her door. Kaylee, probably, or River. Even Mal knocked occasionally. Simon was unexpected. 

"May I come in?" 

"Certainly." Inara gestured him into her room, to the low couch. "I'm just having a cup of tea. Will you join me?" 

"As I'm certain you make a far better cup than I do, yes, thank you. Cuisine of any kind has not turned out to be my strong suit." 

"We have different strengths." She handed him a cup, and leaned back. "Did the scent of tea draw you here Simon?" 

"No, although I'm enjoying it now. I suppose I came for two reasons, neither quite enough on their own to justify bothering you but taken together..." 

"It's no bother. I'm by no means overly busy. Do go on." 

"I've been organizing my records in the infirmary and it occurred to me that I've none for you at all. Of course, when you were here before the Guild physicians provided your care, with considerably more expertise than I." 

"Not that much more. I've seen you work Doctor." 

"That's very kind, but I doubt trauma surgeons and the Guild physicians address many of the same health issues. Be that as it may, there does seem to be a high accident rate on this ship." 

She smiled wryly. "It has not escaped my notice." 

"And while I hope you never have need of my services while you're on board, I thought I would ask if you'd be comfortable giving me a brief medical history. As a precaution." 

Inara was highly skilled in revealing only what she wanted known. So she smiled at him. "I once broke three fingers when I was disarmed while fencing. My blood type is B positive and I'd appreciate not being prescribed clophinestrine as it does unpleasant things to my complexion." 

Simon nodded. "Hives? Not uncommon." 

"Not comfortable either." 

"No, I don't imagine." He waited for her to continue. She did not. "I suppose I did ask for a brief medical history. Anything else?" 

She sipped her tea. "What else would you need?" 

"I suppose that depends on a few factors. All of which require me to ask difficult questions in a tactful manner. Which I am not good at." He put his tea down, looked at her. "I hope you will forgive me. But...do you intend to remain on Serenity, or are you returning to Sihnon soon?" 

"I'm not yet certain." She half smiled at him, repeating his words "I suppose it depends on a few factors." 

He nodded. "All right. Also...do you intend to remain with the Guild?" 

Inara raised her eyebrows. "Did you think it likely I would not?" 

Simon shrugged uncomfortably. "It's simply that...well, no one seems to know if everyone on board currently falls under the description of fugitive criminal or not. I don't know what the Guild's response to our situation might be." 

"Ah." Inara relaxed slightly. "Well, I don't think the Guild is entirely aware of the extent of my criminal affiliations. I'm hoping they won't become so. They believe I was abducted from my quarters, but I have assured them of my current safety. At the moment I'm...on leave, as it were, until I recover from the emotional crisis of abduction." 

"So you still have access to Guild medical facilities?" 

"Oh certainly, for life, at least unless I attain true criminal fugitive status." 

"We live in hope. Even so, if you were to remain on board I'd be, if not your primary physician, at least the first responder in event of a crisis. And I'd like to have a great deal more information if possible." 

Inara eyed him with outward calm. "Again, what kind in particular?" 

"At best, access to your medical file from the Guild." 

She shook her head, her expression pleasant. "I'm afraid that would be frowned upon." 

He raised his eyebrows, then looked at her with a sudden cool intensity that made him, in his way, as formidable as Mal. "You'll permit a professional observation, then?" He did not wait for her to permit. "You're not a fair skinned person, Inara, not the way, say, Wash is." Now he stopped. "Excuse me, was." After another brief silence, Simon continued. "You have dark gold undertones to your skin, but in certain lights it attains an almost startling translucence. Now in my experience, this could indicate several things, including..." 

She interupted him, still smiling. "Simon. Complements that poetic really ought to be reserved for Kaylee, don't you think?" 

He looked at her shrewdly for a long moment. She met his eyes, admitting nothing. Then, because his manners were bred into the bone, Simon accepted the turn of subject. "I suppose I've shown little capacity to charm her with words in the past. I'm afraid I'm only articulate on the subject of medicine." 

Inara shook her head, considering. "I recall a quite eloquent speech on the subject of your sister, soon after your arrival on Serenity." 

"So I can talk graciously about women of my acquaintance, so long as they aren't in the room. And possibly only if they are closely related to me." He smiled wryly. "It's really astonishing that Kaylee continues to put up with me at all, isn't it?" 

Relaxing now, Inara smiled at him and meant it. "I don't find it particularly surprising. But perhaps you should diagnose her with something?" 

He smiled briefly. "Maybe." Then suddenly, the intensity was back. "Understand, however, that if she stays around I will feel professionally obligated to do so." 

Inara was fully aware they were no longer discussing Kaylee. She meant to give him a look of warning. She worried that it was pleading instead. "Perhaps. But not just yet." After a long moment, Simon nodded, accepting this answer, for now. Then she picked up the tea pot. "Another cup? 

"Oh...yes, thank you." 

"I believe you said you had two reasons for coming? What was the second?" 

The professional intensity, gone, he shrugged again. "I believe it was, oddly enough, painting on silk." 

"Oh? Do you desire instruction on the art?" 

He chuckled. "Tienna, that would be a fine disaster. No. I was simply remembering...in the hospital on Osiris there was a copy, to my inexpert eye a very good copy, of one of Chen Tsi's paintings. 'The Surgeon and the Patient.' Do you know it?" 

"Yes. A gorgeous work, and a most unusual subject. I've seen the original." 

He smiled at her. "I suppose that's the other reason I wanted to speak with you. I needed, just for a little while, to speak with someone who has even a few good memories of the core planets." 

She thought, with faint longing, of Sihnon. "The food, the art, the gardens. Beauty. Order." 

"Ah, the order. Yes, I miss that." He struggled to explain. "Of course, I can never forgive the government's treatment of River, and I have no lasting desires to go back, but..." 

"There are things you miss." She nodded. "It's an exchange you make. The rim can be violent and crude and there are so few of the comforts you're used to. But then you realize that you deeply appreciate the peace, or the order, or even just...the apples when they come. It's odd. You fall in with criminals and find at some level they are the most honest people you have ever met." 

"Exactly. I can't go back. I'm...not sure I would if I could. Still. Some days I miss the painting." 

"Of course. So do I. I'd welcome the occasional chance to discuss, say, the restaurants on Ariel." 

"Ah..." Simon lifted his teacup, remembering. "Have you been to Baramachen?" 

"The venison with juniper - exquisite." 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:   **Surgeon and Patient**   
Author:   **Cedar**   
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **G**  |  **gen**  |  **7k**  |  **02/06/06**   
Characters:  Inara, Simon   
Summary:  Simon decides its time he asks Inara a few questions.   
Notes:  Set after the film. Part of a series of conversations I'm putting together.   
  



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